When Melanie Maxwell hired me at The Ann Arbor News and brought me to Michigan, I thought it was just going to be another flat and boring Midwest city. But, on my first day in Ann Arbor, I drove down Main Street and only saw a fraction of the city, and from then on I knew that I would love this place.

Thinking back one year later, at the end of my fourth internship and on my way to my first full-time staff job, I can’t help but think of how the people I met and the things I got to photograph set me up for success and molded a huge part of where I am now.

I got to fly in a 1945 B-25 Mitchell Bomber with a WWII vet, I got to see tensions and fists fly at so many protests, I saw the despair on a homeowners face when his house was destroyed in a fire, I got to become immersed in the incredibly unique Ann Arbor culture, I got to see the passion for all things sports in the area, I photographed a wedding at Walmart, a funeral for a turkey, and a hearse festival in the town of Hell, Michigan.

Leaving this city and the people who became a big part of my life was awful, but I will take these memories and experiences with me to my new job, and I will never forget the last year of making photos that I had.

The last few months in Ann Arbor have been pretty busy, and I never got around to sharing some of my work. But over the last three months there have been plenty of proms, graduations, festivals, events and breaking news. Have a look at what has been going on, enjoy!

I never got around to posting a set of photos from December, so I added them in with a set of photos from January as well. It's been an exciting two months full of snow, high school sports, the North American International Auto Show, and a lot of cardboard signs at multiple protests. Enjoy!